Goonhilly Makes Plans for Spending £32.4 Million From Antennas to Facilities, Deep Space Projects and More

Goonhilly Earth Station released this announcement as follows: Cornwall, UK: Satellite communications innovator and space gateway,Goonhilly Earth Station today launched its roadmap and outlined developments which will galvanize its position in the satellite industry and place it firmly at the vanguard of the new space economy driven by private investment and solid growth performance. With the agility of a start-up yet with many science and technology firsts under its belt, this roadmap underpins the firm’s ambition to become a world-leading space connectivity nexus and center of innovation.

So, what does this translate out to mean?

Earlier this year, in May, a £24 million funding injection by UK billionaire Peter Hargreaves was announced, and at that time various projects that would benefit from this funding were specified that include:

Install new deep space antennas for the launch of the first private deep space communication network that will support commercial lunar and Mars missions beginning in 2020

Invest in infrastructure and facilities in the U.S. and Australia to support deep space projects, LEO constellations and international terrestrial projects

Construction of a green data center that will provide state-of-the-art connectivity

The opening of an R&D and manufacturing facility to support customers, to design and develop a range of satellite communications products, and to reinforce already well-established partnerships with university researchers

Invest in professionals' expertise across business development, operations and engineering

Goonhilly's solution for deep space communications is a funded plan to create the world’s first private deep space network in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA). Goonhilly recently won an £8.4 million ESA contract, and is using funds provided by the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to upgrade the 32m Goonhilly-6 dish that will enable ESA to have communications for future lunar missions. The team is also working in close collaboration with researchers at Oxford University to create a combined radio telescope and deep space antenna using the second largest of the Goonhilly dishes, Goonhilly-3. University researchers have designed a breakthrough cryogenic receiver and back-end processor that provides the ultra-low-noise performance required for both primary tasks.

Through this collaboration with ESA, Goonhilly will be involved in upcoming return-to-the-moon missions including the communications with spacecraft on the first Space Launch System (SLS) launch.

Ian Jones, CEO and Co-Founder of Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd, said that many of the world’s leading space companies have already selected Goonhilly as a trusted partner. As they enter into their next chapter of expansion, their aim is to be the preferred partner for organizations seeking to take advantage of their disruptive, entrepreneurial approach to business. The company is always seeking opportunities to add value for their clients, so they can grow their businesses as Goonhilly grows theirs. They have the skills and facilities to deliver that growth as well as access to an unprecedented range of connectivity and technical options. Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd, a privately held company which acquired the their 164-acre Cornwall site from BT in 2014.

Another agency that Goonhilly has partnered with is Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) and ESA on a their 'pioneering private commercial space exploration project', Lunar Pathfinder. The goal is to take a number of small experimental CubeSats on a piggyback ride to the Moon to provide communications and navigation services. As a result of this the Lunar Pathfinder will also provide these communication and navigation services to other lunar exploration missions.

As part of the plan of the Lunar Pathfinder, Goonhilly and SSTL have also signed a collaboration agreement with Astrobotic to gain early flight operations experience and provide the Astrobotic mission with communications and command capabilities.

Because deep space communications from a single location only provides a partial solution, Goonhilly has funded plans to create a complete deep space network by adding ground stations in Australia and the USA. Additionally, by using a combination of dish and phased array techniques developed in conjunction with its radio astronomy partners, Goonhilly foresees that they will deploy antennas with the flexibility to meet current and future frequency planning and mission needs.

Although the commercial geostationary satellite market faces downward pressure on capacity costs, while high-throughput satellites are adding data volumes and TV habits increasingly favor over the top (OTT) services, Goonhilly sees potential for disruption. It plans to do this by adopting an agile approach to developing and delivering solutions that challenge the traditional models, and working with partners to open up new value-added services.

In addition to providing value added services that address the user community, Goonhilly has a broad portfolio of offerings to support satellite operators in GEO, MEO and LEO. This includes spacecraft tracking, telemetry and control (TT&C), in-orbit testing and monitoring services.

Goonhilly further meets broadcasters’ communications needs with a datacenter that supports of data-intensive live streaming. Jones added that they have the agility, approach and technology to shake up the existing world order in the mature satellite broadcasting sector.

Goonhilly is in the unique position of linking space communications with bundles of subsea cables and ultrafast fiber broadband to deliver unprecedented reach around the world. Sitting at a confluence of the planet’s main internet backbone and with the launch of its tier 3/4 datacenter later in 2018, customers including broadcasters can benefit from access to this secure, connected and resilient network. The datacenter’s high specification physical location and low latency connections will also make Goonhilly an attractive, cost-effective choice for hosting and co-location customers.

Goonhilly is investing in a major upgrade to power and cooling systems as well as adding layers of security. It has constructed a sizeable solar farm on its roofs, and, being on the coast, it benefits from free-air cooling most days of the year. These capabilities allow Goonhilly to keep costs down and minimize energy consumption.

Goonhilly’s existing systems engineering team will expand from its current consultancy role into a full-scale engineering design and development business covering software-defined-radio, digital signal processing, antenna design and phased array solutions.

Goonhilly is investing in a new electronics and software test and design lab to support these activities and to enable the development of products in diverse fields including communications and IoT (Internet of Things), maritime services, public services such as healthcare and defence, autonomous vehicles, agriculture, mining and cargo management.

In 2018, Goonhilly will open its R&D and manufacturing facility both to benefit customers and encourage academic research. Goonhilly already plays a role in UK science and innovation: It works in close association with international universities. Goonhilly and its customers benefit as scientific and technology innovations are brought to life by some of the best research, design and engineering minds in the world.

Jones commented that their philosophy is to have a deep understanding of problems in order to explore new ways of doing things. Working with universities in space science and radio communications reveals new technological possibilities and informs new methodologies, resulting in better products and services for their customers.

This approach will see Goonhilly expanding its training and outreach programs including running accredited post-graduate programs in conjunction with partner universities. Goonhilly has already made a name for itself running a popular annual Space Mission Operations training course. Jones continued that this will help to train the next generation of engineers and scientists, keep them very close to the latest technology developments and help them grow as a company.

Goonhilly is an Enterprise Zone, offering incentives for companies wishing to locate offices and facilities on site. It also hosts the Southwest Regional center of Excellence in Satellite Applications and is a UK Space Agency-sponsored incubation center for micro businesses.

Jones concluded that as access to space becomes more affordable and available there is an explosion of interest in space solutions, and a new golden age of science and creativity. They are providing the facilities and people to nurture ideas emerging at start-ups and universities and helping them evolve into commercial opportunities.